Improvement in guides for sewing-machines



A. HULL.

Sewing Machine Guide.

Patented Feb. 10, 1857.

V UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADDISON HULL, OF BROOKLYN, NEXV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN GUIDES FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 16,586, dated February 10, 1857.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ADDISON HULL, of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Guides for Sewing- Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a back View of the foot-piece used in a sewing-machine to confine the cloth to the table having my improved guide attached. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken in the line 90 x of Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in a novel mode of applying a guide. in connection with the foot-piece, or the equivalent thereof, which confines the cloth to the table, which admits of its being adjusted readily at any suitable distance from the needle and renders it selfadjusting to various thicknesses of cloth or other material under operation.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

' shown in section.

0 is the guide-plate, consisting of a' narrow plate of metal arranged perpendicularly-to the sliding plate O, and attached to the end of the I said sliding plate 0, by being provided with a small slot, (1, which is arranged perpendicularly to the face ofvthe cloth, and which re ceives a square pin or stud, 6, formed on the end of the said sliding plate C, said pin or stud being furnished with a head on the outer side of the guide-plate to confine it to the sliding plate C. The slot (Z allows the foot-piece to rise and fall to accommodate itself to the sewing of different thicknesses of material independently of the guide-plate, and whatever the thickness of the cloth it allows the lower edge of the guide-plate to rest upon the table when desired, or upon a portion of the material of different thickness to that upon which the foot-piece A presses, so that a portion of the guide-plate hanging below the plane of the face of the foot-piece may serve as the means of guiding the margin or other" edge of the material, as is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, where the cloth is shown in section in red color, and also in Fig. 2, where the margin of the cloth is sh own by a red line fitted with. a dovetail to slide endwise into the small footpiece at the lower end of a rod, E, which works perpendicularly to the face of the cloth in a spring-box, F, that is attached rigidly to the leg B of the foot-piece A by an arm, G,-

which stands parallel with the face of the ma if at any time it be desired not to use the guide.

The arm G is fitted to slide through the leg B, so as toallow the guide-plate to be set nearer to or farther from the needle to sew or stitch nearer to or farther from the edge of the cloth, and a set-screw, f, is employed to secure the arm in the required position. Instead of fitting the arm G to the leg B to attach the springbox thereto, the said arm may be fitted in the same way to the stationary arm or stand of the sewing-machine. The rod E is prevented turning in the spring-box F by a feather or pin, 9, on one side of the said rod, fitting to slide in a slot in one side of the spring-box, and thus the guide-plate is kept in sufficientlyrigid condition laterally. The guide-plate is kept from drawing longitudinally from the foot-piece of the rod E by the sliding plate 0. The reason for fitting the guide-plate into the foot-piece E so as to be movable, instead of securing it permanently thereto, is to enabl the straight guide shown to be changed for a curved one, or for a mere point for guiding curved scams, or for one of any desirable character for any purposeas, for instance, a guide with a groove in its lower edge, to guide by the cord in stitching a corded edge. \Vhatever the form of the guide-plate it is confined with sufficient rigidity in a lateral and also longitudinal direction by its connection with the sliding plate 0 and the rod E, and yet is adjustable and changeable without interfering with the operation of the needle or any other part of the machine. V

The slotted sliding plate() is an important feature; as it serves not only to prevent the guide-plate drawing longitudinally out of the foot-piece E but also serves to give it stability laterally.

I do not claim, generally, the attaclnnent of a guide to the foot-piece which presses on the cloth during the sewing operation; but

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The attachment of the guide-plate c to a spring-bar, E, or its equivalent, which operates independently of the foot-piece A, thus holds the cloth during the sewing operation, and is adjustable laterally to the same, and the 0011- nection of the same by a vertically-slotted connection, d c, with a slotted sliding plate, 0,

working through the footpiece A, substan-- tially as described, whereby the guide-p1ate is made adjustable and changeable, as herein set forth.

A. HULL. \Vitnesses:

A. F. WVARNER, GEORGE WV. PRINCE. 

